A story of a friendship and a portrait

Irma Stern’s captivating 1943 portrait, Portrait of Freda Feldman in Basuto Hat, is back in South Africa and up for auction in Johannesburg this month, but the story of this piece and its artist is a touching one of friendship and support.

The portrait is expected to fetch between R5 000 000 and R7 000 000 and will be accompanied by the original Basotho hat (mokorotlo) worn by the sitter, Freda Feldman, one of Stern’s most intimate and enduring friends.

The women met when Feldman (née Ginsburg) married Richard Feldman – a prominent businessman and public intellectual. He, along with respected photographer and art dealer, Leon Levson, was part of an influential group of Jewish patrons, who greatly assisted Stern, particularly in the early part of her career.

The Feldmans were known to be patrons of the arts and supported many struggling artists in their lifetimes, but their friendship with Stern went far deeper than patronage. They acquired pieces they loved from Stern whenever possible, and had an ongoing financial arrangement with her, paying her in instalments. No sooner had they finished paying off one painting, they would begin again on the next.

Feldman became an important subject for many of Stern’s paintings, but Portrait of Freda Feldman in Basuto Hat is undoubtedly the most important. The muted colours and juxtaposition of the sitter’s thoughtful demeanour and the playful hat made the portrait a much-discussed piece amongst the friends. Also, the hat was Feldman’s favourite because it showcases the beauty of Lesotho’s craft industry.

Stern’s low self-image due to her weight, led her to seek out Feldman as her ‘surrogate’ self, and thus no self-portraits were ever painted by Stern. This makes Portrait of Freda Feldman in Basuto Hat even more treasured, as it may well express her own presence in the portrait channelled through Feldman.

The Johannesburg auction will also offer a wide range of exceptional works by major South African artists including JH Pierneef, Pieter Wenning,Walter Battiss,Anton van Wouw and Gregoire Boonzaier. Among the contemporary works on offer are a good selection by Robert Hodgins,William Kentridge, Peter Clarke, Penny Siopis, Willem Boshoff, Kendall Geers, Karel Nel, Kudzanai Chiurai, Pieter Hugo and Cameron Platter.

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef Winter Bosveld Estimate: R 800 000 – 1 200 000

Important South African and International ArtJohannesburg, Monday 23 May 2016